British police are seeking to identify the motives behind the stabbing attack on Sunday which left 10 people injured, including nine seriously, on a train heading to London, in eastern England.
The anti-terrorist services were asked to collaborate in the investigation into the tragedy, for which two people were arrested. But no information was given on their identity or the reasons which may have led to the horror scenes described by witnesses on this moving train.
The police were alerted to an incident around 7:40 p.m. local time (and GMT), following the triggering of the alarm system, and intervened at Huntingdon station, located in the region of the university town of Cambridge, approximately 120 kilometers north of the capital.
During the night, the transport police reported a death toll of 10 injured hospitalized, nine of whom were in critical condition.
« The attack has been declared a major incident and counter-terrorism police are assisting with the investigation while we work to establish the full circumstances of the incident“added this source.
Witnesses interviewed by The Times newspaper said they saw a man armed with a large knife and passengers hiding in the train toilets to protect themselves.
A witness cited by several media outlets said he saw a man running into the wagon, his arm covered in blood, shouting: “They have a knife!” “. Another reported seeing “blood everywhere.”
Taser
Olly Foster, quoted by the BBC, said he initially thought it was a Halloween joke when he heard passengers shouting “ Run away! There’s a guy who stabs everyone.”
He described seats covered in blood and a passenger trying to protect a little girl during the incident that “seemed like it would never end.”
Another passenger cited by Sky News reported having seen, once the train stopped, police officers use their taser (electric pulse gun) on the platform to subdue a man armed with a large knife.
« We are currently carrying out urgent checks to determine what happened and it may be some time before we are able to confirm anything“, warned Commissioner Chris Casey, quoted in a press release from the transport police, calling not to “ speculate on the causes of the incident« .
Even before these testimonies emerged, Prime Minister Keir Starmer had described the incident as “extremely worrying”. “ My thoughts are with everyone affected, and I thank the emergency services for their response“, he indicated.
The train where the attack occurred left at 6:25 p.m. from the town of Doncaster (northern England), with destination London’s King’s Cross station.
The London North Eastern Railway (LNER), which operates rail routes in the east of England and Scotland, has called on travelers to avoid all travel, predicting “major disruption”.
In a country where firearms legislation is very strict, knife violence has increased sharply over the past fifteen years in England and Wales, according to official figures. The Prime Minister has in the past described the situation as a “national crisis”.
The Starmer government has taken several measures to tighten access to bladed weapons since coming to power in July 2024.
Nearly 60,000 of them have been seized or recovered by the police in ten years, Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood said on Wednesday.
This attack comes a month after the attack on a synagogue north of Manchester, where a man attacked worshipers armed with a knife. Two people were killed, one of them shot by police who responded to the scene.
© Agence France-Presse
